The Frugal Traveler, part of the NY Times travel series recently visited Puerto Rico as part of its budget weekend series. This is a great article on how you can visit Puerto Rico; enjoy the sights and sounds of San Juan; for under $500.
The Frugal Traveler’s standard weekend budget of $500 rarely buys entree to such trendy zones, but a free-ranging Web search netted a boutique bargain: the Nuyorican Cafe had just opened the upper floors of its bright-blue building, a former Spanish convent, as an art-filled hotel called Da House. My third-floor room — sunny but cool, with colonial-style furniture and tall, skinny windows overlooking the alley — was $80 a night. Perfect. (Matt Gross, April 15, 2007. Frugal Traveler)
Highlights of the weekend trip to San Juan, Puerto Rico included;
Place to Stay
Da House, 312 Calle San Francisco
Things to Do
Casa Blanca loacted at 1 Calle San Sebastian
El Morro, located at 501 Calle Norzagaray
Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, located at 299 Avenida de Diego
Places to Eat & Drink
Aguaviva, located at 364 Calle Fortaleza
Bebos, located at 1600 Calle LoÃza
Brickhouse Bar & Grill, located at 359 Calle Tetuan
Café Berlin, 407 Calle San Francisco
La Mallorca, 300 Calle San Francisco
Places to Shop
El Alcazar, 103 Calle San José, (787) 723-1229
El Galpon, 154 Calle del Cristo, (787) 725-3945
Otto, 69 Avenida Condado, (787) 722-4609.
Source: Frugal Travler
5 Responses
We have been to PR (pre-cruise and port of call) before. The end of June 2008 we will be spending three days, two nights in SJ pre-cruise.
We would like to tour outside of SJ/OSJ. We have done El Yunque trails. Is there a tour company that would be able to give us a day long tour on Saturday June 28th around the island. Or should we just rent a car and do it ourselves?
Thanks
Ed & Sherry Peeks
Ed.
Whether you go with a tour company or get a rental car, you will be hard pressed to see the whole island in a day.
It takes at least 3+ hours just to drive from San Juan to the west coast. You would be just driving all day, if you wanted to get around the island – and that would not be much fun.
Personally, I would get a rental car (works out cheaper than a tour) and pick an area or place to visit. Ideas:
Ponce in the south
Camuy Caves (west of San Juan) could also add on Arecibo Observatory
Isabella coast
You could even head to Rincon or cabo Roja (west coast) but if you do that, you might want to consider getiing a room for the night. That way you will actually be able to enjoy the area.
Hope this helps
We are palnning a trip to Puerto Rico in March and are finding the lodging more expenseive than we are use to. We have travel through out Central America and Mexico and usually find rooms to stay around $50-65 a night.
Is it possible Puerto Rico? What do you suggest?
Thanks, Susan
Hi
Thanks for taking the time to read my blog and to leave a comment.
Puerto Rico is not cheap like Mexico, more like any large city in the USA. Most hotels in the San Juan area will be more than $50-65 per night. Some options to try:
Try a bid on http://www.priceline.com for a particular area where you would like to stay.
There are small hotels / inns called paradores that are located throughout ther island. I have never stayed in any, but you can find out more information here http://www.gotoparadores.com/ – these should be less expensive than bigger hotels
Finally, do a search for ‘bed and breakfast’ places – again these should be less expensive.
Hope this helps and hope you find a great place to stay.
Coqui
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